Gingerbread Poke Cake
This Post May Contain Affiliate Links. Please Read Our Disclosure Policy.
This gingerbread poke cake is the perfect dessert for the holiday season. Full of spices, molasses and honey, it’s an easy cake to throw together. Then caramel sauce gets poured over it and a honey whipped cream spread on top for a delicious holiday dessert I know your family is going to LOVE.
Growing up in the sticks of upstate NY, my mother would always buy her honey from one of those cute little road side stands. Well this one time, instead of just a cute honey bear my mother got a large (and I mean like Winnie the Pooh style) jar of honey. Because of its size, she kept it in the bottom cupboard. I seriously remember grabbing a spoon, plopping myself down on the floor. And just diving in.
So is it any surprise that when I got the opportunity to create a holiday dessert for Don Victor® honey, I jumped at the chance. And so I decided a gingerbread poke cake made with honey is exactly what we needed. Because what’s not to love about a poke cake? There’s so easy to make and so dang flavorful! Like my super easy Tornado cake made with crushed pineapple and a coconut pecan frosting. Also a favorite around here.
And I snuck this honey into two places in this cake…
What’s great about Don Victor® honey is that is a raw, filtered honey that is not heated or processed in any other way. There is actual real honeycomb in the jar! How cool is that? Now, if you are wandering around your local Walmart looking for it, you are not going to find this honey in the regular honey aisle. Don Victor® honey is located in your international foods/Hispanic aisle.
To learn more about Don Victor® honey, be sure to check out their website, or follow them on Facebook and Pinterest!
How To Make This Gingerbread Poke Cake
What I love about this cake (and what I know you will love as well) is that it is an easy cake to throw together.
I start by sifting my dry ingredients together in one bowl. Sifting is important to make sure your leavening agents and spices all get evenly mixed.
I added generous amounts of cinnamon, ginger, and cloves to this cake so it’s bursting with gingerbread flavor.
In my second bowl, I simply whisked my wet ingredients together. No mixer needed here friend. This cake uses vegetable oil, applesauce, Don Victor® honey, molasses, brown sugar, and 1 room temperature egg.
The first cake I made without the applesauce, but I found it to be way too dry. The applesauce was key in keeping this cake perfectly moist.
Pro Tip: For measuring your honey and molasses: Spray your measuring cup with cooking spray so it easily releases!
Once you have whisked your wet ingredients, go ahead and stir in your dry ingredients and 1 cup of boiling water. The water is another secret ingredient to making this cake super moist. Once added, just be sure to not over-mix your batter.
After the cake comes out, you immediately want to take a skewer or the end of a wooden spoon and poke holes into the cake. The more the merrier I believe. Then it’s time to pour some deliciousness all over the top. Caramel sauce. Now it’s the holidays, so I get it if you don’t want to make your own homemade caramel sauce. You can definitely use a jarred caramel if the holidays got you a bit frazzled. I totally get it.
Of course no cake would be complete without a topping if you ask me. So I decided to use the honey and the honeycomb to make a homemade whipped cream. Instead of using powdered sugar to sweetened my whipped cream, I stirred a few tablespoon of the honey, along with the honeycomb into the whipped heavy cream. Why have I not been making my whipped cream this way the whole time? It’s perfectly sweetened with just a few tablespoons of honey. So simple. So delicious.
Recipe Tips
- Be sure to sift your dry ingredients which will help to aerate the flour and make for a fluffy cake. It also helps to evenly incorporate the leavening agents.
- You want to make sure to accurately measure the flour by scooping the flour into a dry measuring cup and then leveling off with a flat edge. Too much flour will result in a dry dense cake. For a complete tutorial, read this post. For best accuracy, use a kitchen scale.
- When measuring the honey give the measuring cup a quick spray of non-stick cooking spray so the honey releases easily.
More Recipes To Try
Gingerbread Poke Cake
Ingredients
For the cake
- 1/2 cup (107 grams) dark brown sugar
- 1/2 cup (99 grams) vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup (125 grams) applesauce
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 cup (170 grams) molasses
- 1/2 cup (170 grams) honey
- 2 1/2 cups (300 grams) all purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons ginger
- 1 teaspoon cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (237 grams) boiling water
- 1/2 cup (142 grams) caramel sauce
For the whipped cream
- 3/4 cup (173 grams) cold heavy cream
- 3 Tbs. honey
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly spray a 9-inch square pan with cooking spray.
- In a large bowl, whisk together your brown sugar, vegetable oil, and applesauce. Whisk in the egg, and mix in the molasses and the honey.
- In a second bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves. Stir into the oil mixture. Stir in the hot water. Pour into the prepared pan.
- Bake 30-35 minutes in the preheated oven, until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Immediately upon removing from the oven, poke holes into the cake using the end of a wooden spoon, skewer (or even a fork or knife will work!). Pour the caramel over the top and spread using a knife so the caramel is evenly distributed over the top of the cake and can sink into the holes you made.
- While the cake is cooling, prepare the honey whipped cream. Pour the heavy cream into the chilled bowl of an electric stand mixer or into a large chilled mixing bowl. Use the wire whisk attachment on the stand mixer or a hand-held mixer to whip the cream on medium speed until it begins to thicken slightly.
- Turn the mixer off and add the honey. If necessary, scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl to push the honey into the cream. Whip the cream on medium-high speed until it holds soft peaks. Use right away or cover and place in your refrigerator until ready to use (may need to be whisked again slightly when ready to use).
- Once the cake has completely cooled, spread the honey whipped cream on top of the cake and smooth with a spatula.
Video
Notes
- Be sure to sift your dry ingredients which will help to aerate the flour and make for a fluffy cake. It also helps to evenly incorporate the leavening agents.
- You want to make sure to accurately measure the flour by scooping the flour into a dry measuring cup and then leveling off with a flat edge. Too much flour will result in a dry dense cake. For a complete tutorial, read this post. For best accuracy, use a kitchen scale.
- When measuring the honey give the measuring cup a quick spray of non-stick cooking spray so the honey releases easily.
